Lesley Oliver was appointed the Associate Director of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station (KAES) and Research Office in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky in May of 2014. She came to UK in 2009 as the Assistant Director of the KAES. As Associate Director, she provides administrative oversight and support for a wide range of research activities. Her duties include the administration of mandated land-grant programs in research, including Hatch, Hatch Multistate, Animal Health and McIntyre-Stennis project implementation, annual AREERA reporting of accomplishments, and Civil Rights compliance. She is also responsible for implementing programs and services that promote faculty success in obtaining extramural funding, partnering with industry, and managing grants and contracts. She is the College’s liaison to the USDA ARS Forage Animal Production Research Unit. Professional appointments include Administrative Advisor to SERA 39 and S1057, Board of Directors for the Southern Rural Development Center (term starts in 2014), and the Advisory Board to the Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences program at Purdue University.

Before coming to UK, Oliver was the managing director for the Center for the Environment at Purdue University from 2005-2009, Assistant director of Agricultural Research Programs (the Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station) in Purdue’s College of Agriculture from 2000-2005, and Assistant to the Director of Purdue’s Environmental Sciences and Engineering Institute from 1996-2000. Over the course of her administrative career, she has directly contributed to proposals that have garnered more than $30 million in awards. She holds a B.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science and a M.S. in Agronomy (Soil Microbiology), both from Purdue.

CAFE Research OfficeAssociate Dean for Research and Director of the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment StationS-129 Agricultural Science Building - NorthLexington, KY 40546-0091859-257-3333CAFEresearch@uky.edu